Do you agree with this advice from a job placement counselor?

My job placement dude told my class tonight that if we want to get a job,
this is how we should do it:
Week 1:
Send 5 emails a day, to 5 unique companies.
Week 2:
Send 5 emails a day, to 5 companies you didn't send a resume to yet
Then resend the original email you sent that day of week 1
Week 3:
5 new companies, plus the 5 from week 2, plus the 5 from week 1
Week 4:
5 new companies, plus the 15 from weeks 1 through 3.

Basically, he advocates picking random companies and sending out 250 copies
of your resume over the course of 30 days. A company in the first week
would get 4 copies of your resume. Honestly, I can't see how this would
result in an interview. If anything, it'd result in sending an email to
abuse@<isp>. He doesn't suggest responding to job ads, just find any human
resource email and start blanket emailing the hell out of them until they
respond. Almost sounds like spam, only the product you are spamming for is
yourself.

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Before you do anything else, make sure you have a resume that shows your own
accomplishments, if any. Resumes that are full of things like "associated
with a group that did such and such" or "trained in thus and so" are a waste
of time and paper.

Make sure all communications are carefully composed and checked for spelling
and punctuation. Some people get so used to the informalities of email that
they skip this important step. Most important of all, triple check the
spelling of the company you are writing to and the name of the person you
are addressing. Don't try to get the attention of the reader by
capitalizing words and phrases, it just makes it hard to read and goes to
the bottom of the stack. If you have trouble with spelling or punctuation,
have somebody else look over it.

Many company websites show their own guidelines/rules for sending resumes
electronically. Look for that and follow their guidelines exactly. Forget
your pretty fonts and formatting and do what they want.
"DeMoN LaG" <n@a> wrote in message
news:Xns948118099736FWobbly@216.168.3.30...
> My job placement dude told my class tonight that if we want to get a job,
> this is how we should do it:
> Week 1:
> Send 5 emails a day, to 5 unique companies.
> Week 2:
> Send 5 emails a day, to 5 companies you didn't send a resume to yet
> Then resend the original email you sent that day of week 1
> Week 3:
> 5 new companies, plus the 5 from week 2, plus the 5 from week 1
> Week 4:
> 5 new companies, plus the 15 from weeks 1 through 3.
>
>
> Basically, he advocates picking random companies and sending out 250
copies
> of your resume over the course of 30 days. A company in the first week
> would get 4 copies of your resume. Honestly, I can't see how this would
> result in an interview. If anything, it'd result in sending an email to
> abuse@<isp>. He doesn't suggest responding to job ads, just find any
human
> resource email and start blanket emailing the hell out of them until they
> respond. Almost sounds like spam, only the product you are spamming for
is
> yourself.
>
> --
> AIM: FrznFoodClerk
> email: de_on-lag@co_cast.net (_ = m)
> website: under construction
> Need a technician in the south Jersey area?
> email/IM for rates/services

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DeMoN LaG <n@a> wrote in news:Xns948118099736FWobbly@216.168.3.30:
> My job placement dude told my class tonight that if we want to get a
> job, this is how we should do it:
> Week 1:
> Send 5 emails a day, to 5 unique companies.
> Week 2:
> Send 5 emails a day, to 5 companies you didn't send a resume to yet
> Then resend the original email you sent that day of week 1
> Week 3:
> 5 new companies, plus the 5 from week 2, plus the 5 from week 1
> Week 4:
> 5 new companies, plus the 15 from weeks 1 through 3.
>
>
> Basically, he advocates picking random companies and sending out 250
> copies of your resume over the course of 30 days. A company in the
> first week would get 4 copies of your resume. Honestly, I can't see
> how this would result in an interview. If anything, it'd result in
> sending an email to abuse@<isp>. He doesn't suggest responding to job
> ads, just find any human resource email and start blanket emailing the
> hell out of them until they respond. Almost sounds like spam, only
> the product you are spamming for is yourself.
>

It will never work, IMHO. You do a mass mailing like that in your case to
consulting firms letting them know you're out there, like about a month
before a contract ends. And then you follow-up with a phone call and make
personal contact letting them know you're looking for an assignment.

As for getting a permanent job, you have to make your resume standout from
the rest, by not being sloppy with spelling errors, sentence structure,
grammar, etc. and give your work history and major accomplishments and
education - short and to the point - use good print paper. No recruiter
wants to see 9 pages of a resume. It will hit the trash can. You should
keep the resume no more than 2 pages at most.

Once you send the resume, make contact with a follow-up phone call to see
that they have gotten it. You should make yourself standout from the rest
and make them notice you and your resume. Other qualified people are
sending their resume in as well. You have to go after the job by being a
little aggressive. Hey look it's me I want the job let me talk to you. Let
me tell you what I can do. Can I get an appointment with you to talk about
it?

You know a little something along those lines in the approach to getting a
job.

A lot of companies don't accept resumes. Go online to find jobs as well and
follow-up.

Duane Arnold <> wrote in
news:Xns948173C42E511notmwnotmecom@204.127.199.17:
> Once you send the resume, make contact with a follow-up phone call to
> see that they have gotten it. You should make yourself standout from
> the rest and make them notice you and your resume. Other qualified
> people are sending their resume in as well. You have to go after the
> job by being a little aggressive. Hey look it's me I want the job let
> me talk to you. Let me tell you what I can do. Can I get an
> appointment with you to talk about it?
>

See, this was my theory. Send an email resume, followed by sending a snail
mail copy, and a few weeks later give them a phone call and ask if they got
it, what they thought, if we could set up an interview, etc. But then
again, this is the placement guy who landed a graduating student a $9.25/hr
job to replace her $15/hr secretary job.

So, you're looking too! (I've been out of work 2 years now.) I doubt that
what he suggested will work as generally email and emailed resumes don't
seem to get anywhere near the recognition or response of hard copy. The
closest I've come to landing something has generally been from finding
companies that use the skills that I have, doing a bit of research, phoning,
getting a real name to deal with, and sending in a (nice, very nice) copy of
my resume with a cover letter and following up. Unfortunately, the jobs I
didn't get didn't even go to someone else, they evaporated when the business
climate didn't improve as the companies in question expected it to. If your
"job placement dude" is DBM, you should have taken the free lunch at
McDonald's instead as I didn't find them to be very useful at all...in fact
it was depressing to see the same people week after week w/o any of them
getting jobs (several of them eventually decided to offer consulting
services in order to eat).

I do have a friend who used to be a personnel manager at various companies
and his suggestion (I haven't tried it yet, only ran into him a couple of
days ago) was to rent a mailing list and make a mass-mailing of at least
(yes, AT LEAST) 5,000 resumes complete with cover letters. It'll cost a few
bucks, but if you're recently laid-off you have more now than you'll have
later and are more easily re-employable at this stage.

Good luck,
George

"DeMoN LaG" <n@a> wrote in message
news:Xns948118099736FWobbly@216.168.3.30...
> My job placement dude told my class tonight that if we want to get a job,
> this is how we should do it:
> Week 1:
> Send 5 emails a day, to 5 unique companies.
> Week 2:
> Send 5 emails a day, to 5 companies you didn't send a resume to yet
> Then resend the original email you sent that day of week 1
> Week 3:
> 5 new companies, plus the 5 from week 2, plus the 5 from week 1
> Week 4:
> 5 new companies, plus the 15 from weeks 1 through 3.
>
>
> Basically, he advocates picking random companies and sending out 250
copies
> of your resume over the course of 30 days. A company in the first week
> would get 4 copies of your resume. Honestly, I can't see how this would
> result in an interview. If anything, it'd result in sending an email to
> abuse@<isp>. He doesn't suggest responding to job ads, just find any
human
> resource email and start blanket emailing the hell out of them until they
> respond. Almost sounds like spam, only the product you are spamming for
is
> yourself.
>
> --
> AIM: FrznFoodClerk
> email: de_on-lag@co_cast.net (_ = m)
> website: under construction
> Need a technician in the south Jersey area?
> email/IM for rates/services

I'd do it. In two 2 weeks you'll have over 10,000 dollars if you follow the
instructions carefully and add your name to the bottom of the list...

"DeMoN LaG" <n@a> wrote in message
news:Xns948118099736FWobbly@216.168.3.30...
> My job placement dude told my class tonight that if we want to get a job,
> this is how we should do it:
> Week 1:
> Send 5 emails a day, to 5 unique companies.
> Week 2:
> Send 5 emails a day, to 5 companies you didn't send a resume to yet
> Then resend the original email you sent that day of week 1
> Week 3:
> 5 new companies, plus the 5 from week 2, plus the 5 from week 1
> Week 4:
> 5 new companies, plus the 15 from weeks 1 through 3.
>
>
> Basically, he advocates picking random companies and sending out 250
copies
> of your resume over the course of 30 days. A company in the first week
> would get 4 copies of your resume. Honestly, I can't see how this would
> result in an interview. If anything, it'd result in sending an email to
> abuse@<isp>. He doesn't suggest responding to job ads, just find any
human
> resource email and start blanket emailing the hell out of them until they
> respond. Almost sounds like spam, only the product you are spamming for
is
> yourself.
>
> --
> AIM: FrznFoodClerk
> email: de_on-lag@co_cast.net (_ = m)
> website: under construction
> Need a technician in the south Jersey area?
> email/IM for rates/services

Reminds me of Lamers who send out Spam actually because basically that's exactly what you'd be doing with your resumé, BUT you
*might* get a job with SpamCop or some other such organisation after the places you targetted forward your information to them!
lol

"DeMoN LaG" <n@a> wrote in message news:Xns948118099736FWobbly@216.168.3.30...
> My job placement dude told my class tonight that if we want to get a job,
> this is how we should do it:
> Week 1:
> Send 5 emails a day, to 5 unique companies.
> Week 2:
> Send 5 emails a day, to 5 companies you didn't send a resume to yet
> Then resend the original email you sent that day of week 1
> Week 3:
> 5 new companies, plus the 5 from week 2, plus the 5 from week 1
> Week 4:
> 5 new companies, plus the 15 from weeks 1 through 3.
>
>
> Basically, he advocates picking random companies and sending out 250 copies
> of your resume over the course of 30 days. A company in the first week
> would get 4 copies of your resume. Honestly, I can't see how this would
> result in an interview. If anything, it'd result in sending an email to
> abuse@<isp>. He doesn't suggest responding to job ads, just find any human
> resource email and start blanket emailing the hell out of them until they
> respond. Almost sounds like spam, only the product you are spamming for is
> yourself.
>
> --
> AIM: FrznFoodClerk
> email: de_on-lag@co_cast.net (_ = m)
> website: under construction
> Need a technician in the south Jersey area?
> email/IM for rates/services

I'm not sure if I would go along with that advice either. Spam is
spam, no matter what.
Consider this: Some large companies have scanners which they feed
resumes into. Don't laugh, I'm not talking about a shredder. If they
get 200 resumes a day, it is unlikely that they read each one.
Companies like S.C. Johnson in Racine WI, have such a machine. It
scans and looks for KEY WORDS on your resume. If you use enough of
these key words, your resume goes into the 'good' pile, to be read by
a real person. I forget the title, but I have actually seen a book of
'key words' at the library, for defeating such machines. What they
are really are is 'Action Verbs', such as: Accelerated, Calculated,
Administered, coordinated, generated, improved, introduced, expedited,
turned around, led, solved, etc. When you use enough of the words,
the machine has been programed to look for, you are starting to win.

Also, if you are responding to an ad in the paper, it is good to use
the exact title in the ad, as your objective. i.e. 'LAN and network
administrator' rather than some generic thing. Keep one copy of your
resume with a 'blank objective'. Type it in by each job title and hit
print.

Consider this: Use plain white paper with sharp crisp letters.
Chances are that COPIES of your original will be made and circulated.
Your original on fancy paper may never make it to the person actually
doing the hiring.

I hope the best for you folks who are out of work, or working below
your capacity. Maybe some of these tricks and insights will give you
an edge up on your competition. KK

In response to the whole post.

"Mike the Kiwi" <> wrote in message news:<>...
> Reminds me of Lamers who send out Spam actually because basically that's exactly what you'd be doing with your resumé, BUT you
> *might* get a job with SpamCop or some other such organisation after the places you targetted forward your information to them!
> lol
>
>
> "DeMoN LaG" <n@a> wrote in message news:Xns948118099736FWobbly@216.168.3.30...
> > My job placement dude told my class tonight that if we want to get a job,
> > this is how we should do it:
> > Week 1:
> > Send 5 emails a day, to 5 unique companies.
> > Week 2:
> > Send 5 emails a day, to 5 companies you didn't send a resume to yet
> > Then resend the original email you sent that day of week 1
> > Week 3:
> > 5 new companies, plus the 5 from week 2, plus the 5 from week 1
> > Week 4:
> > 5 new companies, plus the 15 from weeks 1 through 3.
> >
> >
> > Basically, he advocates picking random companies and sending out 250 copies
> > of your resume over the course of 30 days. A company in the first week
> > would get 4 copies of your resume. Honestly, I can't see how this would
> > result in an interview. If anything, it'd result in sending an email to
> > abuse@<isp>. He doesn't suggest responding to job ads, just find any human
> > resource email and start blanket emailing the hell out of them until they
> > respond. Almost sounds like spam, only the product you are spamming for is
> > yourself.
> >
> > --
> > AIM: FrznFoodClerk
> > email: de_on-lag@co_cast.net (_ = m)
> > website: under construction
> > Need a technician in the south Jersey area?
> > email/IM for rates/services

"keith kichefski" <> wrote in message news:...
> I'm not sure if I would go along with that advice either. Spam is
> spam, no matter what.
> Consider this: Some large companies have scanners which they feed
> resumes into. Don't laugh, I'm not talking about a shredder. If they
> get 200 resumes a day, it is unlikely that they read each one.
> Companies like S.C. Johnson in Racine WI, have such a machine. It
> scans and looks for KEY WORDS on your resume. If you use enough of
> these key words, your resume goes into the 'good' pile, to be read by
> a real person. I forget the title, but I have actually seen a book of
> 'key words' at the library, for defeating such machines. What they
> are really are is 'Action Verbs', such as: Accelerated, Calculated,
> Administered, coordinated, generated, improved, introduced, expedited,
> turned around, led, solved, etc. When you use enough of the words,
> the machine has been programed to look for, you are starting to win.
>
> Also, if you are responding to an ad in the paper, it is good to use
> the exact title in the ad, as your objective. i.e. 'LAN and network
> administrator' rather than some generic thing. Keep one copy of your
> resume with a 'blank objective'. Type it in by each job title and hit
> print.
>
> Consider this: Use plain white paper with sharp crisp letters.
> Chances are that COPIES of your original will be made and circulated.
> Your original on fancy paper may never make it to the person actually
> doing the hiring.
>
> I hope the best for you folks who are out of work, or working below
> your capacity. Maybe some of these tricks and insights will give you
> an edge up on your competition. KK
>
> In response to the whole post.
>
> "Mike the Kiwi" <> wrote in message news:<>...
> > Reminds me of Lamers who send out Spam actually because basically that's exactly what you'd be doing with your resumé, BUT you
> > *might* get a job with SpamCop or some other such organisation after the places you targetted forward your information to
them!
> > lol
> >
> >
> > "DeMoN LaG" <n@a> wrote in message news:Xns948118099736FWobbly@216.168.3.30...
> > > My job placement dude told my class tonight that if we want to get a job,
> > > this is how we should do it:
> > > Week 1:
> > > Send 5 emails a day, to 5 unique companies.
> > > Week 2:
> > > Send 5 emails a day, to 5 companies you didn't send a resume to yet
> > > Then resend the original email you sent that day of week 1
> > > Week 3:
> > > 5 new companies, plus the 5 from week 2, plus the 5 from week 1
> > > Week 4:
> > > 5 new companies, plus the 15 from weeks 1 through 3.
> > >
> > >
> > > Basically, he advocates picking random companies and sending out 250 copies
> > > of your resume over the course of 30 days. A company in the first week
> > > would get 4 copies of your resume. Honestly, I can't see how this would
> > > result in an interview. If anything, it'd result in sending an email to
> > > abuse@<isp>. He doesn't suggest responding to job ads, just find any human
> > > resource email and start blanket emailing the hell out of them until they
> > > respond. Almost sounds like spam, only the product you are spamming for is
> > > yourself.
> > >
> > > --
> > > AIM: FrznFoodClerk
> > > email: de_on-lag@co_cast.net (_ = m)
> > > website: under construction
> > > Need a technician in the south Jersey area?
> > > email/IM for rates/services

On Sat, 31 Jan 2004 07:21:32 -0000, DeMoN LaG <n@a> wrote:
>My job placement dude told my class tonight that if we want to get a job,
>this is how we should do it:
>Week 1:
>Send 5 emails a day, to 5 unique companies.
>Week 2:
>Send 5 emails a day, to 5 companies you didn't send a resume to yet
>Then resend the original email you sent that day of week 1
>Week 3:
>5 new companies, plus the 5 from week 2, plus the 5 from week 1
>Week 4:
>5 new companies, plus the 15 from weeks 1 through 3.

Your job placement counselor is the one who should be getting you the
job! What kind of a school are you going to? Tell them to hire a new
job placement counselor!! lol
>Basically, he advocates picking random companies and sending out 250 copies
>of your resume over the course of 30 days.

Did he say where yer supposed to GET these random company names?! lol
>A company in the first week
>would get 4 copies of your resume. Honestly, I can't see how this would
>result in an interview. If anything, it'd result in sending an email to
>abuse@<isp>. He doesn't suggest responding to job ads, just find any human
>resource email and start blanket emailing the hell out of them until they
>respond. Almost sounds like spam, only the product you are spamming for is
>yourself.

To use your occasional 'way with words'...

HE'S AN IDIOT!!!!

I've done considerable hiring over the years. Here's a few
suggestions...in no particular order...

1. NEVER send a resume'...NEVER! All the other sheep are gonna send
resumes.

You want to stand out from the crowd...there's a lot of competition
out there. Yer not gonna stand out if you act like one of the sheep.

Send a letter...outlining the ACCOMPLISHMENTS you've made with your
various employers. You don't even need to mention company names at
this point. Then tell them that yer in the process of revising yer
resume'...and that you'll bring it with you to the interview.

People get hired because of their PERSONALITY...and how it blends with
the interviewer...PERIOD!! People NEVER get hired because they can do
the job. Nobody KNOWS yet that they can do the job! They get hired
because of their personality...expressed at an INTERVIEW!

So...if you give all the details they want in a resume'...they'll be
no reason to contact you. And you'll lose the opportunity to
demonstrate YOU...yer personality. You'll seldom get an interview if
they have all the FACTS they need.

So...only send a letter. And make SURE you ask for an interview in
that letter. You need to sell YOU...and yer only gonna be able to do
that in person.

3. Never be the first to send in your letter. Send it at the last
moment...but be sure it'll get there for the deadline. Especially in
jobs where there will be a lot of applicants, the first to be read are
often the first to be forgotten. The later ones are usually the ones
that'll be recalled in memory more often.

4. Look up some key words that respond to the female psyche...and try
to use some of them in your letter. Most large corporations now have
personnel departments...and the majority of employees in that
department are often female. So...chances are very good that yer
letter is gonna be read by a woman. You need to catch her eye with
your letter.

Even the APPROACH of the letter needs to be different. This has been
discussed on many talk shows recently...and it makes sense. You might
even be able to find something about this with a Google search.

5. Take several part-time jobs (1-2 hours a day...or even a week)
that most people won't want. Add them all toghether...and they often
can equal more than 40 hrs./week.

This is also good job security. If one of them eventually fires you,
you have all the rest to keep you going. And, per hour, they often
pay more than a 40-hour job...because they don't feel they offer job
security. So that try to entice folks with a higher per hour rate.

6. If all help fails...hire yourself! Many millionaires have been
born this way!

They did hire a new one. Our old one never found anyone a job, this guy
found someone a part time job making $9.something an hour.
> Did he say where yer supposed to GET these random company names?! lol

I'd assumed it was the job posting list he puts on the bulletin board.
Basically from what I can tell, he goes to Monster, types "Networking"
into the search box and then just keeps clicking print.

I would say 95% of the jobs he posts require 5+ years experience and a
Bachelor's. It's like, sure, this company who wants that much experience
and school is going to hire anyone who is coming fresh out of school with
an AS and 0 experience. Right. His explanation was we should apply for
those jobs anyway, since they are hiring for a Sr. Network Administrator
they are probably hiring for something lower, so that means we could get
that job instead.

Following his lists, I've basically just got replies stating:
"We're sorry, you do not have the necessary qualifications or experience
to be considered for this job."

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